Process and apparatus for treating bagasse



t. 1 1927. QC H. ISTELLI PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BAGASSE Filed Dec. 24. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 1,64 ,242 Oct. 11.1927. HISTELU 5 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BAGASSE Filed'Dec. 24. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1,645,242 O 1927- H. ISTELLI PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BAGASSE Filed Dec. 24. 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I VIII I/A V 1,64 ,242 Oct. 11, 1927. H. ISTELLI 5 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BAGASSE Filed Dec, 24. 1925 4 Sher; .s-Sheet 4 over-extraction.

?atented Oct. 11, 1921.

UNITED STATES HENRY ISTELLI, OF CENTRAL SAN GERMAN, ORIENTE, CUBA.

ROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BAGASSE.

Application flied December 24, 925. Serial No. 77,550.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for treating sugar bearing materials and particularly for treating sugar cane.

The purpose of the invention is to increase 6 the extraction of sugar beyond that attainable at present with the modern commercial devices, by supp'lementally continuing the extraction in a particular manner beyond the usual treatment,'and after the practical possibilities of roller mills or other means are exhausted. This may be effected by simple means, involving practically no radical change of existing installations. withoutincrease of labor, requiring no increase of maceration water, and with the consumption of onl 'a moderate amount of power.

In the application of the present invention to'the extraction of sugar from sugar canethe bagasse-is treated in an apparatus which is placed anywhere in the path of the ba-gasse in the process of extracting sugar therefrom and in subsequent treatment. While passing through the ap aratus, the bagasse is'macerated, thorough y agitated and commingled with the maceration liquid; then the liquid is extracted and the bagasse is finally dried. The operationof extraction can be intensified to the extent of partially drying the bagasse or, in other words, subjecting it to This treatment besides heinp simply maceration. connningling, extraction and drying, consists in a constant repetition of these ste s, and those steps may be repeated any nuin er of times. Finally;

after the last extraction step. the bafzasse is subjected to a more intense'and prolonged complete drying.

As is well known, in every cane sugar factory. the cane is maccrated or sprayed with water and the juice separated by subjecting the cane to very high pressure between the rolls of usually five or six roller mills. Each mill produces only one extraction. and there is no special provision for comm'ingling the resultant bagasse with the water with the consequence that considerable amount of bagasse does not come at all in contact with water. In a single relatively small unit of the apparatus to be described we may have not only tirenr six extractions. but as many as twenty or more. The com mingling of water and baaasse is performed under continuous stirring, splitting up and transposition of bag'asse and is an important feature of this invention, because it increases the eiliciency of maceration by driving the air out of the pores of the bagasse and bringing it into'closer contact with the extracting liquid.

Another purpose of the present inventionis to provide for drying.the final bagasse before passing it to the furnaces with the view of reducing or completely eliminating the necessity of extra fuel. It is well known that in the hestoperated cane sugar mills the final bagasse emerging from the last roller millcontains around 50 to 48% moisture and that a considerable amount of extra fuel,

usually wood or fuel oil, has to be burned in excess of bagasse to cover the total heat re 9 uirements. Further, although it is known t at the heat value of baga'sse increases at a high rate with decrease of the moisture content. it is not generally appreciated that a further decrease of 10% to would provide all the necessary heat and thus make the cane sugar factorv independent of extrafuel, and apparently for this reason no special deviceaiming at thislresult is to be found in modern sugar mills.

In my apparatus the drying, performed simply as a continuation of the extraction process, is effected elliciently and economi: cally. By not supplying the apparatus with water it can be adapted, especially in the form shown in Fig. 5 (to be described later), alone to drying of the bagasse.

A still further purpose of the presentinvention is the replacing of one or two of the lastroller mills of any standard cane crushing and grinding installation by the apparatus to he described. It is a well known fact that. the efiiciency of the 4th, 5th and 6th mill in every cane sugar factory is very low, and besides, owing to the low speed of the rolls and high hydraulic pressure, the const motion has to be very bulky and expensive.

The apparatus to be described is a high speed machineoccupying just a fraction of sectional view of the apparatus, showing alternate stationary, solid 'elementsand rotatable perforated elements;

Fig. 2 represents a sectional view through a stationary cylinder and shows the casing around a rotary cylinder. This view also shows the means for mounting the addles, and the diaphragm which is placed etween the stationary and rotary cylinders;

Fig. 3 shows the end cover of the apparatus with the entrances for air and the ma.--

. terial to be treated;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing the means for mounting a rotary cylinder;

.Fig. 5 represents a vertical longitudinal section of a modified form of apparatus;

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 show details of a'device for introducing water into a rotary cylinder:

Fig. 8 illustrates the movement during the spreading of material with low blades;

Fig. 9 shows the path that the material takes with respect to the paddles when passing'? through the apparatus;

igs. 10, 11 and 12 are detail views of the paddles used in the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; and

Figs. 13, 14, and 15' are detail views of the paddlesused in the apparatus shown in bagasse, and openings 16 for the passage of air. .The end section 12' is an inverted U-shaped section, solid and stationary and is provided with a cover 17 having openings 18 for the entrance of air. 'A shaft 19 rests on bearings 20 and 21 'on the covers 14 and 17,'respectively. The shaft maybe rotated by any suitable means, as represented in the drawing by a motor 22.

The apparatus in Fig. 1 is shown installed after the last roller mill of a standard crushing and grinding installation, above 'the bagasse carrier 23, and o .beams 24 laid across the bagasse carrier cana The bagass is scraped off theroller A by means of scraper 25 and slides .down a chute 26, the

upper end of which .rests on the bagassechute 27 of the roller mill and under the scraper 25. The lower end of the chute-26 rests on a casting 28 which. is.- permanently bolted to the cover 14 and srve's to direct the bagasse through theopening 'lfi into the first cylinder. A 7

,shown, but any "lliestationary solid wallcylinders 12 are provided with openings 29'for water pipes 30 (.see Fig. 2) through which maceration water entrs at moderate pressure and forces the revolving bagasse toward the center of the cylinders, thus contributing toward efiicient commingling. The first cylinder has a less number of openings for water than the succeeding stationary cylinders, since the main bulk of maceration water is supplied by a pipe 31 to the bagasse in the chute 26 in order to increase the mass and the speed of the falling bagasse and thereby project it into the cylinder above the paddles 32 which will be described later.

The cylinders 1.2 are also provided with.

partitions or incomplete diaphragrams 33 of a crescent shape, as shown in Fig. 2. The purpose of these diaphragms is to permit the accumulation of liquid in the lower part of the stationary cylinders and also to retard, to a certain degree, the axial movement of the vbagasse.

The rotary perforated wall cylinders 13 are provided with annular rings 34 at both ends. These rings slide in bearings 35, shown in detail in Fig. 4. The rotary cylinders are separated from the stationary cylinders by a light packing 36 which does not present much resistance to rotation. One form of bearin for the cylinders has been form may be employed which will permit the rotation of the cylinders.

The cylinders 13 are caused to rotate by the friction produced by the rotating bagasse which is pushed around by the paddles 32 and 37. If the paddles rotate at approximately 1000 R. P. M.. the cylinders make about 100 R. P. M. The rotation of these cylinders bears a certain relation to the axial displacement of the bagasse produced by the paddles which, like short pieces of a ribbon conveyor, are slightly inclined to the axis, as shown in Fig. 9. If the cylinders rotate at the same speed as the paddles. no axial displacement can take place, and if these cylinders are at a standstill, the axial dis-' placement will be at its maximum. Consequently, the bagasse will more at a higher rate of .speed in the stationary cylinders, or, in other words, remain for a shorter length of time in'the stationary cylinders than in the rotating ones. By varying the speed of the paddles, the bagasse can be subjected for a longer or shorter time to the extraction step or the drying step.

Every extraction can-thus be intensified and apartial elimination of moisture from the bagasse can be accomplished in each stage of the process; A moderate amount of this over-extraction or drying in each stage is beneficial, because a greater number of capillary cells in the bagasse is emptied and upon further maceration, these'become refilled,cr, in other words, a greater number of proper inclination.

cells is washed. out: in every eta whitfi conduces to a more complete an etficient operation of the apparatus. ()bviouslyglho over-extraction or driing can be 'aooomplished directly b'yma ing the bylinders of etlicient length and giving the paddles the n this manner, the time for the treatment -may .be fixed, and the bagasse can be made to go through the desired number of. helical turns in each cylin der. A certain-degreeof control may be exercised .either by an inde ndent'change of speed of the rotary eylindg rs, or by va in'g the speedof the motor 22, or by both, totake care of the quantity and the quality of the .bagasse, as well as the variations in the operation of the mills.

Scrapers of one form or another maybe 'used to clean'the outside surface of the perforated rotar c linders and to serve the purpose of a re. e to keep the speed of the rotating cylinders and the axial displacementof the ba within certain desired limits. Tov furt er clean the-perforations at intervals, a steam ip'e 38, having nozzles 39, maybe provide for each rotary cylinder. The perforated cylinders being rotary.

-a uniforin dischhr e 'of liquid is obtainedand the centrifuga' them clean."

Whileit is intended-to produce the :rotation of the perforated cylinders by the friction of the revolving ddles, this arrangeforce also helps keep "ment is not an essential feature of the invention."- The rotation may be produced independently'of the-paddles by applying a driving means directly to the cylinders by means of pulleys, gears, sproekets or otherwise. e

Each rotating cylinderis provided with an inverted U-shaped-casing 40, an end viewof which is showni-n Figs. 2 and 3. These casings collect the separated liquid that is projected through the perforations of the cylinders. The liquid flows to the bottom. out through pipe tl and into tank 42. From this tank the liquid is pumped to the roller mills of the facto for maceration purposes. The liquid may a so be pumped to the pipe 31 for macerating the bagasse emerging from the last roller mill, or it may be used in any of the stationary cy inders by pumping it through pi s 30. By certain pipe connections, the distribution of the li' uid maybe made in any desirable manner. t is desirable to'first use all the water going to the roller mills. in the present apparatus.

The bagasse is thus treated with fresh water and lhecane passingthrough the grinding mills1 is treated with a slightly sucrosed llt'lll l The 'inveited U-sha'pcd casin 40 around the last rotating cylinder catches the dust and minute particles of bagasse that may be projected out by this cylinder. This cas helical.

ing: has no bottom and the dust falls di-.

rectly on the bagassecarrier 23. The inverted U-shaped end section 12' has an opening 28' for the discharge of the main bulk of the bagasse onto the carrier 23.

The paddles 32are'mounted, as shown in Fig. 2, A hub 43 rests'on the shaft 19 and radiating from the hub are spokes 44 supporting a ring 45. Rods 46, shown-in Fig. 1, pass through the ring and attached to these rods are pieces 47, which hold the paddles 32.; Each paddle is rotatable at rod 4Q, as'shown at 47, so as to prevent jamming and the formation of a bagasse wed 8 between the paddles and the c linders. t is-preferred' to have the padd es weighted at their tips, so that when the shaft is in motion, they will tend to be restored to the radial position.

All the paddles are so placed that there is a space of about an eighth of an inch be-' tween the inner surface of the cylinders and the outer edges of'the paddles. The addles near the diaphragms 33 or the en 14 are tapered inwardly. as shown in Fig. 1. This is done to avoid the accumulation of fibre between the diaphragm and the-adjointo use short paddles in three or more'rows and to stagger them to obtain a greater number of transpositions of the bagasse, as shown in Fig. 5. A plan view of the paddles is shown in Fig. 9, in their lowest position in the cylinders, the arrow B indicating the direction of movement of the paddlcs and the arrow 0, the: axial displacement of the bagasse. It will be seen that the path of the bagasse will be substantially Every time the ,hagassc leaves a addle, its speed and direction changes until itis caught by another paddle. In the upper parts oi the cylindels, the hagasse released by a paddle will fall and si'utior on the paddles below it. which thus produces a continuous splitting of the hagznsc layer and contributes to efficient colnmingling as well as extraction and'drying.

it is advantageous to have a large number of paddles mounted on each ring. especially in the perforated cylinders. to obtain the most uniform distribution of bagasse pcssihle over the cylinder surface. The ex traction and drying will obviously he more ellicicnt if the layer of bagassc is thin. A thin layer of bagassc may require cylinders .with a large diameter or the use of two and areicontinuously pushed toward and. .iuzo-the hextadjacent cylinder 13, which is perforated and rotary where an intense se than the paddles 32 and the ring 45, so that.

the water and the bagasse issue horizontally over the pieces 47 and are then caught by the paddles and .rotated. Owing to the curvature of the paddles, the impregnated bagasse and water tend to take a helical path aration of liquid and fibre takes place. T e liquid passes into .tank 42 from which it is pumped to the millsa'nd the bagasse is pushed into the next cylinder 12 which is imperforated and stationary where it is again subjectedlto a. macerat'ion'and commingling treatment. This process is repeated until the bagasse gets into the last rotating cylinder where the separationfprocess is continued and aprolonged drying takes place. To insure pro .r drying of the bagasse, a

fan48 is place in the end section 12' to send a current of air through practically the whole length of the apparatus and in an opposite direction to the motion of thebagasse.

The bagasse is finallypushed into the end section 12' whereit fallsthrough opening 28 onto the carrier 23.

Depending on the origin and the quality of the cane, a certain amount of bagasse powder may be formed in the apparatus. In order to "event any loss of the dried hagasso whicl layer of molasses dropsmay be spread over the hagasse whilepassing along, on the carricr Drip pipes 49, havi ng very small orifices maybe used.

A modification of the above apparatus is shown in Fig. '5. \Vhile the number of maccrations and extractions in the apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, is limited by the length of the apparatus. the construction shown in Fig. 5 allows for amuch greater number of these operations with a smaller sized "unit.

The apparatus, shown in Fig. 5, consists of a stationary solid wall cylinder 12, as in Fig. 1, and a rotary perforated wall cylinder 50, similar to cylindcrs.13, but considerably lo'nger.

A modification of the means for introducing mac ration water is also shown in Fig. 5. A perforated pipe 51 is shown mounted on the hubs 43. The open ends of said pipe 51 (see Figs. 6 and 7) pass through a disc 52 which is rigidly mounted on the shaft 19 and forms one end of a chamber 54. The castserves as fuel, a very thin ings 55 and 56 make up the cylindrical wall of said chamber and a disc 53, similar to disc 52, closes the other end of said chamber. The castings are held together by bolts 57 and 58. The casting 56' is adjustably fastened to the end s ct-ion 12'- by means of a rod 59 and held in rigid position by means ofa set screw 60. A pipe 61 passes through the casting 56 and its end opens into the chamber 54. The discs 52 and 53 rotate with the shaft 19 along with the erforated pipe 51, and they slide in the pac ing rin 62 and 63. The chamber 54 is watertig t and the water coming from pipe 61 fills the chamber 54,-passes throughthe pi 51 and is sprayed on the material in cy inder 50. Any. number of maceration places may be established in the c linder 50 by the proper distributions oft e perforations in the pirie 51.' I

o avoid the passage of the water through the perforations in the cylinder 50 without percolating through the bagasse, it is preferred to make the height of paddles 32 and 37 sufficiently small, so that, as shown in Fig. 8, they will push a certain portion of bagasse 64.at their own speed on their front side while the rest of bagasse is driven over them and gets behind the paddles.

F igs. 10 to- 15 inclusive show the relative positions of the paddles. In Fig. 10 portions oftwo adjacent wheels are shown bearing paddles A, B and A, B, respectively.

carrying more than one paddle on each rod- 46. One rod will support four paddles C, for instance, and the next rod around the wheel will have thrcepaddles D and so on alternately, the paddles D being staggered with respect to the paddles C. Looking at the wheel from the right of Fig. 13, the view shown in Fig. 14 is obtained. Fig. 15 represents a plan view of the paddles when looking directly at the rim of the wheel shown in Fig. 13. In both Figs. land 5 the paddles will be longitudinally staggered with respect to each other.

Since the paddles are inclined with respect .to the axis of the apparatus, their outer iso ' rn factory because after passing through the .apparatus it is sprayed on the mills. What Iclaim is: 1. In the process of treating. ba'gasse, which process consists in agitating and commingling the bagasse with extracting fluid,

spraying the ba asse with s imultaneousl the fluid, and? separating from t e bagasse the sugar solution ,produced. 4

' 2. The process of treatin bagasse,- which process coniprises-suc'cessivey repeating the steps of macerating the bagasse, separating the maceration flu1d from the bagasse, an subjecting the bagasse to'a drying treatment with a current 0 air.

3. The process of treating bag'asse, which process con'sists' in 'allowng'the 'ba' asseto fall in ascattered condition into a iody of extracting liquid, spraying the falling, scattered bagasse with extr ting liquid, and separating the baga'sse' from the sugar solution produced.

' 4. The process of treating bagasse, which process consists in allowing-the ba asse to fall in a scattered 'conditioninto a ody of extracting liquid, spraying the 'falling, scattered ,bagasse with extracting liquid, and repeating the foregoing steps;

5. The process of treating bagasse, which process comprises. niacerating the bagasse, agitating and comniin'ghng the bagasse with extracting fluid sparatingthe sugar solu- -tion'produced iro'm the ba asse, and then agitating and commingling t e bagasse with the sugar solution obtained in the fir 43 separation step, and separating the liqui fr m the fibrous matter. (3. The process of treating bagasse, which process comprisessucmssively rope-citing the steps of maceratin the bagasse, agitating and commin ling the bagasse with the extracting fluid, separating the su ar solution produced from the bagasse, an sub ectmg the bagasse to a d: 'ing treatment with a current of air.

'i'. The process of t-rea'ing bagasse, which process consists in allowing the bagasse to fall in a scattered condition into a body of extracting liquid, sprayingthe falling, scattcrcd bagasse with-cxtractingliquid, separating the bagasse from the sugar solutiop produced, then allowing the bagasse to fail in a scattered condition and simultaneously blowing air through the falling, scattered bagassc to thereby dry the same.

8. The process of treating bagasse, which process comprises successively repeating the steps of macerating the bagasse, separatin tho maceration fluid from the bagasse, an subjecting the ba asse to a (1 ing' treatment with a current-ofair, the sai process being continuous. p

9. The process of treating bagasse, which process c0mprises successively repeating the ste s of maceratin the bagasse, agitating an comuunglingt e bagasse with the ex tracting fluid, separating the sugar solution produced from the bagasse,'an l subjectingthe bagasse to a drying treatment with .a

current of air, the said process being con tinuous. p a l 10. The process of treatin bagasse, which proce$ comprises successive y repeating the steps of agitating and commingling the bagasse with extracting fluid,'separating the sugar solution obtained from they bagasse, and subjecting the bagasse to a drying treatment with a current of. air.

11. Theprocess described in claim 4' in which the baga'sse, after thelast extraction step, is subjected toaprolongeddrying treatment. Q

12. The process described in claim 6 in which the bagasse, after the lustextraction step, is subjected to a prolohged'drying treatment.

I 13. The process of treating. ba ass'e, which process consists in passing t e bagasse through a maceration operation in small quantities, while adding an extracting fluid,

-agitating and con-lining ing the bagasse' with the fluid, removing the macerated'bagawe 7 from the sphere of operations, replacing the macerated bngusse with more'bagame, sepa.- rating the solution of sugar from the maceratcd bagassc, while maintaining all the bagasse in continuous agitation.

14. The process of extracting sugar from bagasse, which process comprises successively repeating the steps of mecerating the bagasse and scparating'the su'mr solution produced from the. bagasse, whi e maintaining the bagasse in continuous agitation.

15. The ,r. :css of treating bagasse, which process consists in agitating the bagasse by periodically subjecting it to an alternate impelling action and release, and simultaneous ly spraying the bagasse with extracting fluid.

16. The process of treating bagasse, which process consists in agitating the'bagasse by periodically subjecting it to an alternate impelling action and release, and simultaneously drying the hagasse with a. current of air.

'17. An apparatus for treating bagel-so, consisting of a chamber, a power driven member mounted in said chamber, a plural ity of supports mounted on said'member and rotatable tl'ierewith, a plurality of short ribsaid paddles being longitudinally staggered with respect to each other and inclined with respect to the power driven member.

18. apparatus for treating bagasse, the said apparatus having a plurality of cylindrical shells placed end to end, at least one of said cylindrical shells being stationary and having its side wall imperforated, and the cylindrical shell next adjacent to 10 said stationary shell being rotary and having its side wall perforated.

19. An apparatus for treating bagasse,

the said apparatus having a plurality of cyl nders placed end'to end, a stationary lfsohd wall cylinder and next adjacent to it a rotary perforated wall cylinder, and means for pushing the bagasse through the cylinders.

20. An apparatus for treating bagasse, the said apparatus having a pluralit of cylindricalshells placed end to end, at east one of said cylindrical shells being stationary and having its side wall imperforated, and the cylindrical shell next-adjacent to said stationary shell being rotary and hav ing its side wall perforated, and means for pushing the bagasse in a helical path through said cylindrical shells.

21. An apparatus for treating bagasse, the said apparatus having a plurality of cylindrical shells laced end to end, at least one of said cylin rical shells being stationary and having its side wall imperforated, and the cylindrical shell next adjacent to said stationary shell being rotary and having its side wall perforated, means for macerating the bagasse, and means for collecting the maceration liquid extracted from the bagasse 40 22. A multiple sug r extractor and bar gasse drier comprising a machine unit having, inlet and outlet means f the bagasse, means for macerating the bflg9-:-=se, means for commingling the bagasse with maceration liq- 4 uid, means for extracting the sugar solution formed from the bagasse, and means for drying the bagasse.

23.4l multiple sugar extractor and bagasse drier comprising a machine unit having inlet and outlet means for the bagasse;

, ing stationary and having its side wall impeforatedand having means-for passing bagasse into it, the second of said cylindrical shells being rotary, and having its side wall perforated, means for passing the bagasse from the stationary cylindrical shell into the rotary cylindrical shell; means for macerating the bagasse, means for collecting the sugar solution separated from the bagasse, and means for drying the bagasse while passing through the cylindrical shells.

26. A multiple sugar extractor and bagasse drier comprising. a-machine unit, consisting of a series of alternately arranged stationary solid wall cylinders and rotary perforated wall cylinders joined end to end and in alignment with each other, means for passing the bagasse into the first cylinder, means for macerating the bagasse in the stationary solid wall cylinders, means for commingling the bagasse with the extracting liquid and for passing the bagasse through the cylinders, means for collecting the liquid passing out of the perforated wall cylinders, and means for drying the ba; gasse.

27. The combination of a bagasse treating apparatus with a roller mill of a standar cane crushing and grinding installation, means for passing the bagasse from the mill to a point away from the bagasse treating apparatus, and means adapted, when in its pertive position, to form a closure for the first named means and to pass the material tron. the mill to the bagasse treating apparatus 2. An apparatus for treating bagasse, consisting of a chamber, a rotatable member mounted in said chamber, a plurality of supports mounted on said member and rotntalilc thgrewith, short ribbon-like paddles carried hy7-said support, the said chamber having a wall in line with said power drivon member, the said wall conformin with the path of travel of the tips of the lades whereby each of said paddles impart to the bagasse a helical motion.

29. A process for treating bagasse, the said process consisting in scattering the bagasse particles into an open condition with respect to each other, and s raying the bagasse with extracting fluid wliile in said open condition.

30. A process for treating bagasse, the

"said process consisting in lifting the bagasse and scattering the bagasse particles in open condition with respect to each other and injccting an extracting fluid into the bagasse while in said open condition.

-31. An apparatus for treating bagasse, in-

.cluding rotatable elements adapted to revolve rapidly for scattering the bagasse particles into open condition with respect to each other, and spraying elements so positioned as'to convey a spray of extiectin fluid to the particles of bagasse while in sai open condition. I

32. An apparatus for treating bagasse, in cluding means for scattering the bagasse particles into 0 n condition with respect to each other, an means for spraying an extracting fluid across the path taken by the scattering bagasse whereby it is treated with said fluid while in said 0 en condition and while it is under the in uence of the said scattering means.

33. An apparatus fortreating ha asse, including a casing having inlet and charge openings for hagasse, a scattering mechanism located adjacent said inlet opening and including rotary elements adapted to propel incoming bagnsse lengthwise of said casing and to scatter the particles of bagasse into open' condition with respect to each other, and means for projecting an extracting fluid across the path of the scattered bugasse particles.

34. An apparatus for treating bagasse, the said apparatus including a casing having inlet and discharge openings for bagasse, a scattering mechanism located adjacent said inlet opening and adapted to propel the incoming ba assc in scattered condition, means for Feeding bagasse to said scattering mechanism, and means for projecting an extracting fluid across the path of the scattered bagassc particles.

In testimony whereof 'I alfix my signature.

HENRY ISTELLI. 

